


All about Kate

by Ethel09



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 22:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3668214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ethel09/pseuds/Ethel09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why did Kate hide from Neal after the Copenhagen heist ? Was she Fowler's accomplice as Peter thought she was ? Why did Adler really blew up the plane ? What was his plan all along?<br/>Was Fowler, so pleased with himself when he framed Neal, a victim or a villain?<br/>This is an attempt to put the pieces together and find an explanation of all these unsolved questions in S1 and 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All about Kate

**All about Kate**

 

 

 **Chapter 1.** _Set before the pilot._

 

Kate opened her door. She was tired and sad. Her thoughts were with Neal, now alone in his cell, after the sole and too short visit she was allowed every week. As she made one step in the flat, she tensed suddenly. She had the strange feeling that she was not alone. She'd not have missed that if she hadn’t been that deep in thoughts. Instinctively, she did what Mozzie and Neal had taught her to do in such a situation. She began to back away very slowly, her hand on the door to prevent it from making any noise.

"It's no use, Kate," said a voice. "I know you're here."

She knew that voice ! The light went on suddenly, revealing two men in the room, one standing and one sitting on her couch. She could only focus on that one.

"Adler," she whispered.

"I hoped I was still Mr Adler for you, Kate, but good habits will come back easily."

"What do you want ?"

Millions of possibilities came to Kate's mind, the main one being that Adler was here for retaliation, because Neal had planned to rob him. But it had happened some years ago, and in the end, Adler had kept the upper hand. So why ?

"Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you. But we must talk about our common friend. Shall we start ?"

"What do you want from him ?"

"I want something he has stolen, not long before he got caught. By the way, I've been told that it's a bit your fault if that happened?"

Kate blanched. She was still unable to forgive herself for having hidden from Neal for two months after his Copenhagen adventure. Just because she was jealous and suspicious of his relationship with Alex. Just because she had believed Keller when he had unexpectedly visited her and told her that Neal was back with the pretty cat burglar, showing her trick photos of him with an arm around Alex’s shoulders.

She had not hiddden well enough though, Peter Burke had found her, and then had found a way to make Neal know where she was. He had set a trap, and Neal had more or less willingly fallen into it. He had even actually thanked Burke, telling him that without him he'd never have found her.

His freedom was less important to him than her. That was the truth, in spite of all his secrets or misdirections.

How could she have believed Keller instead of confronting Neal for answers, as she had always intended to do in the end ? Or instead of going to Mozzie who would have explained to her why the man had reasons to want a revenge against Neal ? By childishly forcing Neal to search for her while the FBI was closing in on him, she had indeed been the cause of his capture.

But Adler didn't let her dwell too long on the past. His first blow was only meant to put her off guard, and he said:

"I want to know where is Neal's stash, there is something I want in there."

Kate was not that easy to put out of balance. She laughed briefly.

"I don't know where it is. He left me out of his plans, most of the time."

"My dear Kate, you're far too modest. Let me introduce you to my friend."

For the first time, Kate looked at the man standing at Adler's side. She had thought he was one of her former boss's goons. She could see now he wasn’t. Middle-aged, he looked rather educated and much smarter than an ordinary bodyguard.

"Let me introduce you to Mr Garett Fowler, of the FBI."  The man showed her his card with a smirk.

"You see, said Adler, "I've had access to all the FBI files about your boyfriend, my dear. I know very well that you worked very often together. I even know all what agent Peter Burke and his team ever managed to discover about the codes you use and the track games you play when you are apart from each other. So don't you dare tell me that Neal doesn't share most of his secrets with you. I'm sure you know where he hid everything and you will tell me."

"Or else ?" Kate said with a slightly trembling voice.

"Or else, things could become very unpleasant, not only for you… but for Neal as well. Accidents happen in prison, you know. Ill-advised escape attempts, fights with other inmates … You wouldn't want him in solitaty confinement, or worse, in ICU, would you?"

"What you say can't happen," Kate said with as much conviction as she could muster. "Neal is in a white collar cellblock, with maximum security, but a lot of supervision too. Peter Burke made sure he would be safe, using all the connections and leverage he had. And he told Neal to call him if he felt threatened in any way."

"I'm sure agent Burke did his best for his favorite criminal. But Burke is not immune to bullets either."

"You wouldn't dare to kill a federal agent ?"

"Are you sure of that ? I could have Burke killed, and then pin it on Neal. Everyone would think he paid a hired killer out of revenge. All these birthday cards he sent to his captor… Easy to see them as veiled threats !"

"I'll tell the FBI you did it ! I'll tell them you're back, they're still searching you for that ponzi scheme you ran…"

"Such loyalty. I don't recognize my little Kate, who cared for no one except for her pretty self. But my dear, who would believe a criminal's girlfriend ? Kate, Kate, you don't seem to truly understand how many aces I have up my sleeve. And this brings us back to Mr. Fowler here. Mr Fowler has done things he shouldn't have done… and he's presently, let's say, at my beck and call. And I happen to know several other people in law inforcement who are exactly in the same situation. Thanks to Garett, who has just obtained his transfer in OPR, they'll do exactly what I'll tell them to do. You know me, Kate, I've always been well connected. How do you think I escaped after my big scam ? Trust me, when I say I can actually have Burke killed, and Neal accused of being responsible for it, its nothing but the truth. You'd better tell me what I want to know, and do what I say."

Kate was livid. "He told me that he hid everything in San Diego," she whispered. She knew the stash wasn’t there, but they had used that hiding place once, and it wouldn’t be difficult, she thought, to make Adler believe that Neal had moved everything without telling her.

"I knew you'd be reasonable as soon as you'd understand the situation. Don't worry that much," said Adler in a mock paternal tone, "if you're sensible, no harm will come to your boyfriend. In fact, I happen to need him for a certain task. Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean that his help is absolutely necessary, but his expertise would certainly gain me time."

"What do you want him to do ?"

"That's none of your business, at least for the moment. First of all, on your next visit to him, you'll tell him that you don't love him aymore, and that you won 't come to see him again."

"What ? No way ! " shouted Kate.

"Oh yes, you will, if you don't want these unpleasant things I mentioned before to happen".

"But why ?", she cried, on the verge of tears.

"I could say to you that this is none of your business either, but I'll be good enough to enlighten you. I want you to tell him that, because if I know him well (and I know I do), he will go after you. He won't even wait untill the end of his sentence. I need him to be on the run, and fearing for you. I need him to believe that you're in the clutches of big bad agent Fowler. So when you see him, you'll use your impressive skills as an actress to give him the impression that you broke up with him because you are under threat. It won't be difficult, considering his protective streak, especially toward you. Then we'll all pretend that I saved you from Fowler, Neal will join my crew, and if you know what is good for you, you'll shut your pretty mouth and get rich, along with your boyfriend and all the ones who work with me."

"But first," added Adler, "you'll show us that hiding place in Sand Diego. If what I want is here, good. If not, we'll find a way to make Neal understand that he must give it to Garett to get you back. And then, we'll stage your rescue from Fowler and I'll make Neal do the job I have in mind for him. But you must never tell him that I threatened you, or even that you saw me, do you understand? All must be agent Fowler's fault for him. And don't even think of warning your friend Mozzie about our new agreement either. I would be sorry if something had to happen to him."

Kate closed her eyes. She wasn't sure she could do what Adler wanted. She was not sure that she could keep enough self-control in front of Neal to lie to him the way she'd have to. But she had no other choice for the moment. Maybe, when she would be joined to Neal, he'd find a way to free them both.

 

*******

 

 **Chapter 2.** _Six weeks later, just after the pilot._

 

Kate heard the door of the hotel room opening. Fowler 's stocky form appeared on the threshsold. He looked tense and angry.

"What happened ? " asked Kate anxiously.

"Things didn't go the way Adler wanted them to. Burke found Caffrey far too soon. In your former flat. He didn't even try to escape. It seems that you convinced him a little too well that you were done with him."

"It's not my fault", said Kate. "I did everything you said. I left the bottle."

"Yes, but he won't be able to use it to follow your track, as we hoped to. It will probably end up among the FBI evidences."

"Because of you, they'll give him more jail time for his escape," said Kate angrily, "and all for nothing."

"Hey, no one told him to escape a few months before his release," said Fowler with a grin. "He must be really crazy about you… not that I can blame him for that, you're really a pretty little thing."

"I hate you," whispered Kate.

 

***

 

 **Chapter 3.** _Set a few days after ‘Under the radar’._

 

Peter was in his office, looking through the window without really seeing the view. He had his cell phone in his hand. Was he ready to make that call ? Three days before, he had killed Adler to save Neal's life just to see the piece of canvas, the proof that all had probably been one of Neal's long con, fall at his feet just a few minutes later.

Yet he couldn't forget the hurt and disbelief he had read in Neal's eyes when he had accused him in front if the team, the bitter, desperate tone with which he had just said : "Then prove it ! ". What if the piece of canvas was not Neal's ? Or what if he had been framed, once again ?

Peter sighed. He’d have to get answers to these questions, but for now, nothing was proven, and Neal had the right to know at last the truth about Kate's death. Without really wanting to admit it to himself, Peter hoped that Adler had lied and that it was not his arrival on the tarmac that had decided him to blow the plane. And maybe, if Neal was caught off-guard, he could take advantage of it for finding out how involved Neal was in the disappearance of the treasure.

Reaching a decision, Peter dialed Neal's number and took a deep breath. The two men had barely talked to each others since the blowing-up of the warehouse. This would be a little awkward.

"Yes Peter ?" said Neal's voice in an very unusual icy tone.

Peter cleared his throat and said "You know we caught all Adler's crew. We made some digging and one of the men we have in custody was obviously his right-hand man. His name is Agustin Perez. He was his accountant in Argentina for all kind of dirty business, and he's the one who recruited the goons who nearly killed us. I think he probably knew all about Adler's plans. He's ready to make full confession in exchange of an earlier release. We're about to hear it and record it. I thought you'd like to be there.

"I'm coming" was the clipped answer.

One hour later, Peter was sitting in front of Agustin Perez and his lawyer  in one of the FBI interrogation rooms. Diana and Neal were standing behind him. Peter could feel the tension radiating from his CI.

"I have your promise ?" said Perez. "If I tell everything I know, it will be taken into account ?"

"Yes, as it's verified by that document, checked by your lawyer. You'll get the minimum. Now speak".

"It was a long term plan", said the man. First, Adler recruited Fowler. The man lied to you. He knew perfectly well for whom he was working. Not that he had the choice, as Adler actually blackmailed him about the murder he had committed. But he told him about the U-boat as well, and Fowler was greedy. Then he threatened the girl, Kate, to have Caffrey killed in prison if she didn't cooperate. According to my boss, the best way and maybe the only one to get Caffrey out of balance enough to make him give up the music box was to make him believe that his girlfriend was in danger while he was on the run. So he'd both have to hide from the FBI and to look for her, which was nearly impossible. Then Adler would have contacted him and offered him his help. Once he’d have had Caffrey's trust, as much as he could at least, he'd have made him say where the music box was, and then staged a spectacular rescue of Kate, in which Fowler, who knew too much, would have been killed. And then, he'd have asked Neal to help him get the treasure.

"But as you know", Perez continued, "things didn't work the way the boss thought they would. You caught Caffrey immediately, and while Adler was still thinking of how to make him break out of prison again, you took him as your CI. Then, it was too dangerous for Adler to contact Caffrey, because you were always watching him. All that Adler could do was keep using Kate as a bait, making her drop clues as if she was trying to contact her boyfriend in spite of her keeper. He tried as well to have Caffrey framed for stealing the pink diamond, but once again, he came to you instead of going on the run again, and that second plan failed."

At this, Peter looked at Neal, a glint of pride in his eyes. Did the kid realize that his trust in him had saved him twice from Adler ? Would he now confess what he knew about the treasure ?

Perez went on: "Of course, Adler knew that you'd eventually make the link between Fowler's efforts to frame Caffrey and the photograph of the man with the ring. And of course, as he expected, you contacted Fowler and threatened him to put out a BOLO to find Kate Moreau if he didn't allow you to see her. That was part of the plan. Adler wanted to make you believe that Kate was working for Fowler. And on that matter, you really played into his hand, agent Burke. For even before seeing her, you were already quite sure that she was on our side. There was a hidden camera in the room, Kate was wearing a recorder, everything was staged, including her threatening you with the gun. You were easy to convince and after that, we were sure that you'd keep helping us preventing Caffrey from finding her."

This time, Peter didn't dare to look at Neal. He regretted now to have made Neal attend this hearing. Now if he knew anything about the treasure, he would clam up. Was he hating him, at this moment ? Will he ever trust him again ? But Peter had one card left, if Adler had lied when he had said that he had blown up the plane because of his arrival. If he had lied, that would mean that Peter had saved Neal's life by preventing him from joining Kate.

"Tell us why did Adler blow up the plane", said Peter abruptly.

"He always had the intention of doing so", said Perez. "Once he made Caffrey steal the music box right under your nose, he didn't need Kate anymore and she knew too much. He wanted to be the one preventing Craffrey to get on the airplane at the last moment. I know he wanted to pretend he had kept an eye on him and Kate since he was back in the States, that he had just found out about Fowler's schemes thanks to his contacts in Law enforcement, and that now he had the music box, Fowler wanted to kill him and Kate instead of letting them go. Then, the plane would have suddenly exploded, giving Caffrey the perfect proof that Adler was telling the truth, and that he was on his side. All what he had to do next was to kill Fowler, with the detonator conveniently found in his pocket.

"But why couldn't he wait until I was out of prison ?" asked Neal. "Why all that complicated scheme with Kate instead of kidnapping me and making me talk ?"

"Because he wanted your trust, he didn’t want you to see him as an enemy. And my boss never underestimated you, Mr Caffrey. He wanted you on the run, at his mercy, to prevent you from finding a way to take the music box back, to play your own game, or to simply go away. He used to tell me that even he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't be surprised by one of your moves. And that's what happened, actually. The move he hadn't foreseen was your deal with agent Burke. And Burke was keeping too close an eye on you. We couldn't take the risk to contact you directly with him around. By the way, you owe me, agent Burke, because I'm the one who deterred Adler from having you killed. I told him that once you were dead, Caffrey would be sent back to prison, probably on very close watch, and that the whole game would return to the beginning."

"And that's why", said Neal painfully, "Adler decided to kill Kate nonetheless when Peter arrived at the aiport. He couldn't take the riskthat Peter would talk me out of running away and would help me convince Kate to talk, in spite of his threats."

Perez nodded. "Either way, he wanted Kate dead. She knew far too much," he said. "But as for you, I know that he never gave up the hope of having you in his team. Even after Kate’s death, he still thought he could find a way to turn you against Burke, especially by making you believe that he had some responsability in her tragic fate. In fact, he was speaking about you all the time, saying that he'd never seen anyone that talented, that you'd be his rightful disciple and heir."

So, realized Peter, by showing up unexpectedly on the tarmac, he had saved Neal not from death, but from falling in Adler's clutches. But because he hadn’t believed Neal when he had told him that Kate was actually in danger, he might have prevented him from saving her as well. What would carry more weight in Neal’s mind ? Peter was afraid he knew the answer to that question.

Neal closed his eyes. He had always known, in spite of anything Peter and Mozzie, oddly in tune on that point, could have said, that Kate had never stopped loving him, that she had been forced to behave the way she had. The tremendous pain was still there. And the guilt : if he hadn’t claimed he had stolen the music box, Kate would still have been alive. The pain and the guilt would never disappear completely. But he had the answers he had wanted for so long.

Kate had never betrayed him. And his real killer was dead.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I had started on FF. net under another title, but I changed a lot of it for (I think) a more plausible version.  
> In my opinion, one of the main mysteries in the series remained Kate's character. Her behavior was ambiguous, and Peter thought (and many fans too) that she was Adler's accomplice. But considering how much Neal loved her, she didn't need any accomplice to make him tell where the music box was. And what need would she have of such a complicated scheme (the bottle, the Grand Central, etc…). Besides, how could any girl not love Neal back ? And she had proven she loved him by visiting him in prison for more than three years. I wanted Neal to know in the end that their love had been real. There are quite enough other betrayals in his life.
> 
> Please review !


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